A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back! I had to disappear for a while and deal with some personal stuff, but I'll be updating regularly again now. It feels so good to return to the story and be a part of the Fairy Tail fandom again - I love you guys so much, and never have I met a more supportive and invested community than my guildmates here in our little corner of the internet. I'm itching for reviews and I'd love to hear any and all thoughts you have! Freaking out over Gajevy and making you guysfreak out over Gajevy is my favourite hobby, so leave me comments!
Chapter 7: Revving Engines
The autumn sun shone down on the parking lot behind Fairy Tail headquarters. Around the corner, Gajeel could hear Natsu and Gray fighting over what new design they should graffiti over the layers of spray-paint already covering the lower walls of the building. Natsu, of course, wanted flames, and Grey wanted snowflakes or some shit. Gajeel tuned them out, returning his focus to the motorcycle in front of him. Made of black metal and sporting all kinds of complicated chrome pipes and coils, this bike was Gajeel's pride and joy, and he wasn't gonna let some little punks disrupt his concentration or make him fuck up somehow.
He'd been tuning it all morning. Makarov had finally gotten the bike back from the police impound. Gajeel had heard the familiar revving of the engine around sunrise that morning, and hurried downstairs to investigate. Fairy Tail's tiny old boss had somehow managed to drive the hulking motorcycle from the impound on the other side of the city. Gajeel didn't dare to question how. The old man had just dismounted, and nodding toward the bike, said, "It's only fitting the Iron Dragon should have the machine that gave him his title. You're one of us now, Gajeel, and we need the Iron Dragon in our ranks for good."
Gajeel, jaw hanging slack in shock, composed himself. Giving Makarov a military salute, just like Pantherlily taught him, he replied, "Got it, boss."
A crafty smile graced Makarov's lined face, "Indeed, I think I owe most of the credit for your allegiance to a certain blue-haired hacker, if I'm not mistaken."
"Wha – no, no, ya got it all wrong, I – " Gajeel, lost for words, flushed red. Then, embarrassed even further, defaulted to his haughty position of arms crossed with a scowl on his pierced face. He could still feel his cheeks burning. Damn.
"Save it, Gajeel," Makarov said with a wave of his hand. "I'd take a look at your motorcycle before riding it, if I were you. It seems that those police officers didn't treat it too well."
"Tch, damn uniforms wreckin' everythin' for me, as usual."
Gajeel bent down to inspect the motorbike. It was dented and scuffed, and in need of too many repairs to count. He sighed, and lost himself in the metal that reminded him of a home he'd left behind long ago.
Gajeel had completely lost track of time, and only the loud ruckus of Grey and Natsu could rouse him from the lull of his work. He stood, stretched, and noticed the heat of the day for the first time. Judging by the position of the sun in the azure sky, it was nearing noon, and he was drenched in sweat. Mid-way through pulling his black t-shirt off, he noticed a tiny figure sitting on the curb nearby. He froze as she caught his eye, and grinned.
"Keep up the stripping, Gajeel, and you'll end up just like Gray," Levy quipped.
"It's damn hot out here, if you haven't noticed," Gajeel growled back. "Anyways, you're not one to talk." He eyed her crop top and shorts appreciatively, unable to keep his eyes from roaming across her exposed skin and hoping she wouldn't notice. Knowing her, she already had.
Levy ducked her head.
"Whatcha doin'out here, shrimp?"
"I was working in the basement and made a little headway I thought you should know about. But you looked busy, so I waited for you to finish."
Gajeel wondered just how long she'd been sitting there, watching him. He also wondered if he looked as pleased as he felt, rearranging his features into a scowl just in case. But, knowing her, she'd see right through it.
"I'm nearly done, but I should take a break. What did ya find?" he asked, sitting down next to her and mopping his brow with his crumpled t-shirt.
"You smell like gasoline," Levy told him, wrinkling her nose as the scent hit her.
"I dunno what you expected, I've been doin' mechanic work all day," he grumbled.
"That's okay. I like it."
He raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged.
"Never met a girl who liked the smell of motor oil, of all things, geez. Aren't you supposed like the smell of flowers and baking cookies and all that girly crap?"
"Yeah, well, I like those too!" Levy protested. "What are you doing to the engine?"
"Are you gonna interrogate me or tell me what ya found out?"
"Oh, right." Levy's expression grew suddenly serious, lips pursed, brow furrowed. She looked like she knew everything in the world, and it fascinated him. Gajeel wanted to hear it all.
"Well, I was able to access a recent activity report – it was sent to all the Central Magnolia officers and I broke into an email account and read it before they figured out what was going on and shut the system down. They're investigating the Phantom Lord disturbance, and I'm guessing they'll do what they always do and take civilian witnesses into custody until they give up what really happened."
"I dunno how many times the exploding electrical circuit excuse is gonna justify the damage to the building before the pigs just arrest all of Phantom on a reasonable suspicion charge." Gajeel commented roughly. Levy raised a sceptical eyebrow. He knew exactly what she was thinking. "Hey, it's not like I'm still loyal to Phantom or somethin', but if they get caught, it's not long before they rat me n' Juvia out. That puts all of Fairy Tail in jeopardy…and that can't happen."
Levy nodded thoughtfully. "I see what you mean. Casting any suspicion on Fairy Tail at this point puts us in bad shape…do you think we should send out a patrol to do damage control? That way we could make sure no civilians get involved in this either."
"I'll lead it, and take Erza, Natsu, Laxus, and Juvia."
"I wanna come too!"
"Good joke, shrimp. I'm goin' for the intimidation factor here, and a half-pint with blue hair ain't gonna scare no one." Her face fell, and Gajeel felt his stomach twist into a painful knot. He hurriedly added, "Besides, I need ya watching the monitors in case any other information gets through." What he didn't tell her was that there was no fucking way he was letting her anywhere near the Phantom thugs or the Magnolia police – it was too dangerous. He was overcome with some ridiculous instinct to protect her at any cost, even though he knew the little punk could take care of herself. He'd seen it, that first night when he almost beat the shit out of her and they somehow ended up forging a begrudging alliance. Her tiny fighting spirit wouldn't let him win, and the sliver of respect she'd earned then had waxed into a full moon, illuminating her every facet so that he was nearly blinded by her brilliance.
He needed a pair of fucking sunglasses and a drink to drown his heart, because this could not be happening.
Gajeel was pulled from his tangled thoughts by Levy's answer – "Okay. I guess you're right. I'll head back down to the basement, and you'll take a patrol out to Phantom territory and see what's up?"
"Alright."
"Oh, one thing before you go. I need your cell number so I can text you if anything shows up on the monitors, and you can update me if you need to."
Gajeel shifted uncomfortably, "I, er, I don't have a phone. Never saw the point."
"What?!" Levy shrieked. Technology junkie that she was, Gajeel figured it was unthinkable to her, but his life of crime had never required it. He'd always worked alone.
"Here," she reached into her back pocket, "this is my spare iPhone. You can have it, it has everyone in Fairy Tail programmed in." He grabbed the black metal rectangle and examined it closely. It looked flimsy and useless. He tried bending it experimentally and snapped it in half.
"Pretty fuckin' useless, if ya ask me."
Levy buried her face in her hands. "Sometimes I wonder how you even survive in the 21st century, Gajeel, honestly."
"Oi – "
"You know what, just tell Erza she's on call, okay?"
"Er…sorry," Gajeel muttered. "Not my fault it's flimsy as fuck, though."
"It's okay," Levy sighed, "Go get your patrol together, and remind me to never let you touch my stuff again."
Damn it all, Gajeel thought to himself as he lumbered off to gather everyone he needed. He hated that he actually cared about her stuff, he hated that he felt bad for breaking it. If a badly built piece of glass and metal was that important, he'd just weld her a new one. That'd work, right?
He rolled his eyes. The little midget was making his life far more complicated than it needed to be, especially with this Phantom Lord fiasco to deal with, considering he was sort of at the centre of it. He just had to count on the collective loathing the gangs had towards Magnolia PD to protect his identity and keep his involvement under wraps. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly reassured.
He entered the cool shade of the apartment lobby and immediately spotted Erza scolding Natsu.
"I have told you countless times that you are not allowed on in the girl's rooms, no matter the circumstances!" the redhead reprimanded.
"Me and Happy were just playing hide and seek!"
"That doesn't explain why you were going through Lucy's underwear drawer!"
"Hey, you two," Gajeel called, interrupting the argument and barely noticing the relieved look on Natsu's face, "I need ya for a patrol."
He quickly explained the situation, then went in search of Laxus. He found him on the boy's floor balcony, smoking a cigarette. The blonde fighter was Fairy Tail's trump card – the Master's grandson, known for his extensive knowledge of the city's power grid and his use of it to bring down whole regiments through power outages and more…macabre means. Mass electrocutions weren't unheard of in Magnolia.
The two men hadn't had much conversation since Gajeel joined Fary Tail. Laxus preferred his solitude, or the company his team, a select few fairies known as the Raijinshuu. He also seemed to frequent Mirajane's kitchen, but everyone knew better than to comment on that.
"Laxus."
"Gajeel."
Gajeel repeated his explanation, informing Laxus of the danger to Fairy Tail, Phantom Lord, and the civilians in the area. Laxus nodded thoughtfully.
"Will ya come on patrol?"
"Yeah, I'll come if Natsu swears to keep his head on straight and not stir up any trouble. We don't need to inflame the situation. We'll go, observe, and report back. If any civilians need our help, or if Phantom needs some convincing to keep their mouths shut, we'll discuss before we act."
Gajeel gave a sharp nod. The man had some good points, and he agreed that they needed to stay low and keep to the for their own good as well as everyone else's.
"Get in, get shit done, and get out," he agreed.
He met Juvia on the stairs and recruited her for the mission, thankful for her familiar presence. She was the only person whose head he didn't regularly want to bash in.
The team met at the doors to the lobby, and Levy gave one last update on the specifics. "Here's the rundown. PD are on their way to Phantom Lord to investigate what they're saying is "public disturbance and violation of building safety codes". They have a history of arresting and questioning civilians in the area before someone is pressured into ratting the gangs out for fighting or whatever other illegal stuff they're in trouble for. I mean, it's definitely not the civilian's fault at all but we can't trust ordinary people to risk their families and livelihoods to protect us. That's our job," she said passionately, "And if Phantom gets caught, we have no guarantee they won't put Gajeel and Juvia on the line to save themselves. Just because we have a common enemy doesn't mean we're allies." Her doe eyes flickered to Gajeel's, then refocused straight ahead. "Stay safe, okay?"
He would. For her, for once, he would.
